


Gentle Giant

by CreepyBastard



Category: Mario & Luigi RPG (Video Games), Partners in time - Fandom
Genre: Aliens, Angst, Disease, Gen, Near Death Experience, Talks of Loss, graphic depictions of surgery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:40:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25939063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CreepyBastard/pseuds/CreepyBastard
Kudos: 4





	Gentle Giant

As the mothership glided through the galaxy and over paths of stars, the queen had found herself standing thoughtfully at the side of one of the pilots as they approached upon the upcoming planet, after a long while of pacing and nervously jabbering to herself. The queen of the Shroobs had been summoned here to discuss the condition of her and her peoples planet, which had been deteriorating over the years due to a lack of both light and vim, making survival for her subjects difficult, to say the least. The queen had been dodging these questions of what was going to happen about this for a while now, and it didn't go unnoticed... Especially by her neighbouring planet. 

As the ship landed on the planet of the Sunnycides, where the king was waiting for her, the queen couldn't help but go over the things she thought she should say as she walked, she knew that she really did have no excuse for not evacuating the planet sooner before problems became worse. One of the guards walking beside her looked up at her as she mumbled. "Your majesty?" This broke the queen out of her trance and her red eyes scanned her guard for a moment before replying.

"Um, yes what is it?"

"Are you okay?"

She responded quickly and sharply. "Yes, why wouldn't I be?"

"Oh, no reason... You just seemed anxious..." The small white guardian quickly continued to look forward as he spoke, avoiding eye contact with his queen as she dismissed his comment and rolled her eyes, continuing along to the entrance of the castle as her mumbling continued. She didn't mean to come off as aggressive, but the unease did that to her.

"I'm glad that you came, old friend." The king said pouring tea into the queens mug, one of his tentacles wrapped around the teapots handle. "It's time that we talked about your planet, because I'm going to be honest with you." King Sunnycide glanced out through the balcony window, he was able to see Shroob planet from here. It was much darker than what it use to be. "It's... Gone to the chomps."

The queen sighed glancing over at the window as well, then took a sip from her mug before she spoke. "I know... But I'm not sure what to do. There are no other planets that we've been able to find that are big enough to be inhabited. I've had scouts out for months now, and we haven't found anything that could support even a third of our population, that combined with the fact that not nearly do any of those planets have any supplies of vim that would last-" The king cut her off.

"You should've had scouts out, DECADES ago, Elra." He was stern, and the queen froze for moment. She frowned and lifted up one of her clawed hands, agitated with the sudden burst of subtle aggression. But before she could respond one of her guards, a different one from before, came running up to her with a phone in his hand. "Your majesty!" he called to her, panic in his face, "There's an emergency!"

She sighed, and put a hand up to her face. "Please don't tell me that someone let the shrooboids out and now they're running amok, again."

The guard raised the phone up to his significantly larger leader. "No, it's about your sister, your majesty! Something bad has happened." 

The queens heart skipped a beat as she tore the phone from her guards claws, and put it up to the side of her head. "What.. ? But, she was just under the weather when I left how did...?" Her eyebrows went up then down, her teeth now gritted as her breathing hitched. "How bad is it?"

King Sunnycide just looked on, not saying a word. He made temporary eye contact with the guard, as if asking what's going on, but before any conversation could take place, the queen stammered out, "Yes, yes! Do if you have to! I'm coming back!! J-just tell her I'm coming!" The panicked queen hung up the phone and turned to the king that she was just talking to minutes before. "I have to go."

He sighed, "Only if you must."

The singular shake of the kings head was all it took for her heavy footsteps to ring out as she ran down the hall, her guards just barely able to keep up with her as she threw open the castle doors and continued towards the mothership.

When inside the giant ship she was quick to brush the pilot to the side and took hold of the controls herself, her expression remaining serious the entire time. She turned back to the ships crew, and spoke with command, "Hold onto something."

Each member on board did as they were told, holding onto handles on the wall and doorways. No one had seen the queen like this before, and it scared everyone. The queen hit a button and ship suddenly burst to life, and shot off.

~

The mothership raced back through space from the direction that it first came from, the occupants on board being made extremely nervous by their leaders sudden change in mood, and her silence made it worse. The pilot that she had pushed aside to get to the control panel hung onto the seat beside him, trying hard to no let the force of the ships speed blow him back. He every so often glanced at her as she drove.

Her expression was deadpan, which made him even more uncomfortable. But curiosity eventually got the better of him, he aksed, "My queen... What's happening?"

A few seconds passed, and the queen silently replied, "Shroobella's really sick..." The pilot cocked his head to one side before asking, "What do you mean by that, my queen?"

"... It's Shroob pox..." Her voice was just as deadpan as her expression, but others on board had widened eyes and looked at each other, whispering and muttering. 

One of the Shroobs sitting in the back of the room looked at his friend, "Shroob pox?"

"It was only a matter of time." he replied.

"Do you think she'll survive?" said another.

"What will happen if she doesn't? We need an heir."

"Only time will tell."

"First, our planet dies, now one of our leaders my die too? What's going to become of us?"

Another sighed. "May the stars have mercy on us all."

The ship landed at the top of the castle and the queen quickly jumped out of the motherships doorway and into the entrance. She frantically ran down a staircase, into a white room, that smelled of chemicals, and had machinery scattered around it's walls. She looked around and saw something shiny sitting on the countertop, it was her sisters crown.

Whilst the queen was scanning the room, two feet appeared from behind a curtain, and an orange Shroob wearing a lab coat and glasses, stepped into view. He immediately bowed before his leader, "My leigh, my name is Doctor Shroobrian and I'm incharge of your sisters care-"

The mighty queen grabbed him by the shoulder, "How is she!?"

Shroobrian's face fell, "Not good your majesty. Her airway collapsed and I intubated her just before you arrived. I have been able to stabilize her heart rate and maintain her oxygen levels-"

"Is she going to live or die?" The queens voice was calmer, but the grip she had on Shroobrian's shoulder had grown tighter. He flinched, "... I don't know yet. If we don't lose her heart rate we can keep her going until the swelling in her airway goes down. I know that you are well aware that more severe case can cause fatal airway swelling and heart arrhythmias if someone's not there to defibrillate. We're on top of her heart rate, we'll let you know if anything goes wrong."

The queen released Shroobrian's arm and snatched his clipboard from his opposite hand. She studied it hard for a moment, before thrusting it back into his claws and growling "Where's my baby sister?"

Shroobrian gestured to the curtain behind him and stepped aside. The queen marched over and with one swift motion she ripped back the curtain, the metal rings holding it up clattering loudly against each other. And she froze. There was her sister laying on her back in a white bed, which only stood Kneehigh to her.

A clear tube had been pushed down her sisters throat which was connected to two larger tubes that was coming from the clicking, hissing machine beside the bed. Labelled bags attached to metal hooks dangled down to drip, yellow, green, and clear fluids through tubes taped to the princesses' left arm. The hard exoskeleton shell that usually surrounded her chest, had been cut open and peeled back like a jacket, leaving the extra tender flesh underneath completely exposed. There were glowing red cups stuck onto her tender chest that translated her heartbeat into white lines on a flat screen monitor beside the ventilator. The condition of her skin was also horrific. She was covered in dark pink pustules the size of coins... The only place she didn't have pox was the palms of her two-clawed hands, one of which was being held by Shroobsworth sitting at her beside.

The queen didn't make a sound, but her fists were clenched and jaw was twitching. Shroobrian looked up at her and saw her eyes were glossy. "I know it's quite a sight, but we're doing everything we can." he spoke sympathetically to her, even though he was still holding onto his bruised shoulder. She didn't respond though, she just quietly lumbered over to the bedside, choosing to stand on the opposite side where Shroobsworth was sitting. She glanced at him and asked, "Is she conscious?"

The old Shroob shook his head.

The queen proceeded to get down on all fours, leaning over her sister slightly. "Shroobella? It's me, Elra." Her expression remained serious. Shroobworth noticed how pale she was, as if little blood reached her face. She almost seemed afraid.

Elra propped her elbow on the side of the mattress and let her cheek rest on her fist as she gazed into her sisters face. "Are... You awake?"

The only response was from the heart monitor, which beeped rhythmically every few seconds. "I suppose not, but that's okay... I'm here. Big sisters here." A few other doctors in the room turned to look at the queen, very few of them had ever heard her use that voice before. It was liking listening to her speak for the very first time. A low, soft voice with a subtle rumble.

She sniffed, "I remember when I first got the pox... I was so much younger then you are now though. I had to be on the same medicine like you are now, but they had to cut a hole in my throat because they couldn't get the tube in my mouth. Everyone thought I was going to die, even me. I remember when mother would sit with me, she use to stay for hours. But often had to be pulled away so she could tend to herself. And I got so lonely, so lonely that I'd pee all over the sheets just so the doctors would pay attention to me." the queen laughed, "Hopefully we won't have to worry about you doing that."

The somber queen gently placed her hand across her sisters chest, taking care not to nudge the equipment that was attached to her. The princess moved slightly in reaction to the warm touch. 

"Easy, now." Her hand nearly took up her sisters entire torso. By herself Shroobella was pretty big, but right now, in such a fragile state, and with her much bigger, elder sister beside her, she looked tiny.

After a few more minutes of the queen quietly speaking, Shroobrian came up to her, hands behind his back, "My leigh, my team needs to run tests on your sisters heart to make sure it's okay. And I'm also asking that you come with me to discuss her health for a while, out of the room."

The queen was quick to refuse but, Shroobworth had other ideas, "Elra," he interjected softly. "It would be best to get out of their way, they can take better care of Shroobella while we're not underfoot. Why don't you go get something to eat while you talk with Shroobrian?"

The queen growled as she raised to her feet, "Fine. We'll be in the kitchen. But, if anything changes, if she twitches at all, I want to know about it." She was addressing the other doctors coming in the room at this point, before she then walked out with Shroobrian walking just behind her.

Their food arrived about an hour later. A large meat platter for the queen and much smaller one for Doctor Shroobrian. The orange Shroob went over notes, charts, and medicine dosage, taking bite of his food in-between subjects as he read them to his leader, who's mind seemed to be wandering yet, utterly fixated on him the entire time. Listening to every word, yet dismissive of a few things. After a while the conversation soon came to a close. And when it did the queen quickly asked if she could go back to her sister, but unfortunately, Shroobrian said it would be a while longer before his team would be done. So for the most part it was silence between them. The queen had barely touched her food and seemed to be in deep thought, her bright red eyes staring down at the marble table. The only thing that broke the silence was Shroobrian's knife and fork clanking against the plate.

"Are you okay?" the doctor asked, innocently.

Elra just sighed and shook her head, still staring down at the table.

"You should eat, worry and hunger are not a good combination." After these words left his mouth the queen looked at him, clearly agitated.

"You just don't get it."

"Um... Get what?"

Suddenly the queen slammed her fist down on the hard marble, causing cracks to spread along the table. Shroobrian jumped back out of his seat, his knife and fork clattering onto the plate. The queen too, got out of her seat stamped up to him as he fell onto the floor and put his hands out in front of him to defend himself.

"In Shroobella's eyes I can fix anything! That's how it's always been, that the eldest sister can just fix a problem! And I can't fix this!! Do you have any idea how that feels!?" The queen ranted on.

Shroobrian peeked up at his angry queen, he only got one look at her before she went away, and her eyes were full of tears.

As she lumbered back into the medical ward, a few servants cleared the table, one of them offering Shroobrian some dessert as he was helped off the floor, which he accepted. A few minutes passed and Shroobrian finally left the grand dining hall and into the main hallway. He made his way backdown into the medical area where he found the queen sat down on the floor by her sisters bed. Her hair that was usually done up in a large mushroom bun was now draping her shoulders and back. She was humming to the sleeping princess quietly, as she reached up and placed her hand across her tender torso. The gesture seemed protective as it was comforting. And Shroobrian couldn't help but a half smile at her.

But suddenly the calmness of them both soon vanished as the sleeping princess began to trash around in her bed. "Shroobella!? Shroobella!!? The queen cried out.

Shroobrian dropped his notes onto the floor and quickly ran to the princesses' side as she jerked violently and the monitor kept beeping faster. Alarms rang, alerting the rest of Shroobrian's team.

"She's seizing! I need a cc of Atvin stat!" he yelled.

"She's going into V-tach!" shouted another nurse.

"HELP HER! PLEASE, FOR HER SAKE AND MINE, HELP HER!"

"We will!" Shroobrian yanked the curtain closed and the dishevelled queen was pushed out the way.

"I lost her pulse!"

"She's in v-fib! Paddles!" Shroobrian held his hands out in front of him as the flat, metal, plastic objects were shoved into his grasp. He pressed them down on Shroobella's chest, "Charge to two hundred!"

There was a loud medical wine before someone yelled, "CLEAR!"

There was a thump. Her body stiffened then relaxed, and the queen visibly winced. The monitors beeped a few more times then resumed a steady tone. Alarms were going off everywhere, it was utter chaos.

"No pulse!" Shrick, begin chest compressions!" Shroobrian's assistant pressed his hands into the centre of Shroobella's chest and began rapidly pumping her heart. 

"B-Bellbell..." Elra dropped to her knees as shouting continued, none of it good. She pressed both hands to her face, tears came fast, and a yell of emotional pain came bellowing out from her throat, and brought her fist down onto the hard floor, a large crack spreading across the tiles.

Two Shroob guards that were attracted by the loud alarms came rushing into the room, and both froze for a moment over seeing their queen in such a state, and the softer hearted of the two dropped his gun and quickly made his way over to his leader. He placed a one of his clawed hands on her back as she sobbed, but it seemed that she didn't even notice he were there.

She slammed her fist into the floor again, startling the guard, and let out another bellowing scream louder than the last one. It sounded like a screaming gorilla mixed with a whale.

"Oh, stars, please not like this... No, no, no, no, no, no..." she bawled.

"What is going on in here-!" Another voice came into the room, it was Shroobsworth's, but was soon cut off by the sight, similar to that of the second guard, who was just standing there unsure of what to do. For a moment the old Shroob stared but then also ran to his queen. He put his arms around her head and let her sob into his chest, Shroobsworth giving the guard an appreciative nod for him to leave. But he didn't, he and his friend just stood and watched.

"Amp of epi!" cried Shroobrian as another assistance handed him a syring, Shrick pausing the compressions while Shroobrian jammed the syringe into Shroobella's chest. When nothing happened he resumed.

Shroobrian held up his hand, "Hold chest compressions...!" Nothing just a wavy saw-tooth pattern on the monitor. He growled and grabbed the paddles, "Charge to two fifty!"

An unseen assistance called out. "Two fifty! CLEAR!"

Shrick backed away, Shroobrian shocked her again. Another loud thump.

Shroobsworth tried to comfort the whimpering beast, "Shh, the doctors won't let her go, they're working on her, She'll be fine." But his words went unheard, the queen just continued her painful chanting, "Not like this... Not like this... Not like this... Please stars, no..." Her breathing was heavy and her eyes had wandered to the corner of the room, as if she was seeing something that wasn't really there.

Shroobrian's voice shouted over the others, "Hold CPR...!" Three more beeps. Then three more. And a steady rhythm followed. "We've got a pulse! Normal sinus rhythm! Phew, we got her back, good job my brethren."

The curtain opened, and Shroobrian's eyes widened upon seeing his queen in such a state. He cleared his throat before speaking, "We caught her in time, my leigh. She's still with us."

Shroobsworth chimed in after Shroobrian, "Elra, do you hear that? That's the heart monitor, they got her back she's breathing again. She's still alive."

Elra took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself down. She clenched her eyes shut.

"My queen." It was that guard again. He'd placed a caring hand on her shoulder, his expression showed concern, but she turned her head away from him, still whimpering.

Shroobsworth looked to him, "Thank you for your consideration, Levi. But should get back on duty. The queen shall be fine." The small guardian hesitatingly took his hand away, picked up his gun, and walked away with his buddy. 

The curtain moved as more of Shroobrian's team filed out. They'd put ice-packs under Shroobella's armpits and against her feet. All the rapid activity had caused some of the blisters that covered her body to burst, and fluid that leaked out had a smell similar to rotten wood. The queen let out on last deep breath before getting back on her feet, pushing Shroobsworth away. She picked up a white washcloth that was folded neatly on a pile and said, "I need a bowl of hot water."

Shroobsworth, looked around. There were no other bowls beside a large metal basin with handles in the side. The old Shroob carried it over to the scrub sink and turned on the water. When it had filled just over half way and brought it back over to his queen, she plucked it effortlessly from his hands and set it down on the tray beside the bed. She was still trembling, and the occasional tear would roll down her face.

"Is there anything I can do?" Shroobrian asked, still a little bit uncomfortable.

The queen looked straight into Shroobrian's eyes, "Please stay... I don't want that to happen again, I beg of you... Please stay here, please." The pain and pleading in her eyes and voice made a sudden wave of pure sympathy wash over him. All the fear that she had caused him earlier melted away in that very moment.

He sat down on the floor beside her, and smiled softly, "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere."

~

Shroobrian watched his queen wet the washcloth in the steaming bowl and gently wipe away the dark pink pustule ooze off her sisters smooth skin. The princesses' forehead wrinkled as a reaction to it, but her eyes remained shut.

Elra continued to wipe her down, popping the largest spots with her claws through the cloth. It was sleeping hour, Shroobsworth and a lot of the other doctors had already gone to sleep, so the only two that remained awake in the castle was them and a few guards that patrolled the halls.

"I know it hurts." The queen said softly, "But you'll get sicker if we let these burst the wrong way. Don't forget, surviving pain will make you stronger. Anyone can inflict pain, but the strongest are people who can take pain and still get back up." The sleeping princess moved her claws slightly, the tube down her throat looked extremely uncomfortable.

"Hey, could you go get that?" The queen pointed to a table with a tube laying on it.

"The itch cream?" Shroobrian ask for clarification.

She nodded and so he handed it to her. She squirted some of it into her hand and lathered it all over Shroobella's skin. "Hopefully that stops the stinging." The queen fell silent for a moment.

"She only had a fever and an upset stomach when I left... I still find it so hard to believe that it takes so little time for a Shroob to catch their death. It's lucky you found her in her room when you did. She would've died in there and no one would've know until someone checked on her." The solemn queen cleaned her claws off with the wet cloth and dropped it back into the basin.

"Everyone in my family has had it. My mother use to tell me quite often about how her and her twin caught it when they were very small. They got it at the same time, they held hands during the entire time they were being treated. Until she was yanked away from my mother when she started seizing... Mother told me how she saw her sisters chest be cut open, doctors trying to pump her heart for her, but she didn't make it. I saw my eldest aunt die in front of my eyes, she tried so hard to fight it, but she was just too sick. And after her death my mother was never the same... Or perhaps she was never the same to begin with."

Shroobrian fiddled with his claws as he replied, "Wow, my leigh, I'm so sorry."

Elra shook her head, "There's no need to be." she continued, "My mother always talked to me about my aunts, she was awfully sad a lot. I was used as her outlet most of the time. I remember when my aunt, who was the current ruler, suddenly fell over choking because her throat swelled up. I screamed for help because I didn't know what was happening. A guard came in and immediately called for medics. My mother came in first and... Held onto her until she just, died in her arms... It took a very long time before she finally let go. I was crying too, I loved my aunt to death and just to see that..." She closed her eyes, shaking her head. "It hurt, it really did. Also, then my mother had to become the new queen. So much was dropped on her in such a short amount of time, it..."

Shroobrian leaned forward a little bit. He couldn't believe she was opening up to him like this, but hung onto her every word.

"And when I finally got sick with it... My mother was terrified the entire time. Doctors got to me in time but my throat swelled up so tight that they had to cut it open to get the tube in." Elra reached up and pulled down on the neck of her dress's collar to reveal an unnatural hollow in her throat. "She stayed beside me for days, she was too worried about me to worry about taking care of herself. I remember Shroobsworth finally having to drag her away from me so she could clean herself up, and so doctors could work on me. But during that time when no one was around, I got so lonely that I'd wet the bed on purpose, just so doctors would pay attention to me. They had to give me a bath every time I did it. A lot of the doctors were irritated with me, but it just meant so much to be held... I miss being small sometimes."

Shroobrian leaned on his fist as he continued to watch and listen to her. 

"My mother named me after that twin that didn't make it, Elra... I apparently just looked so much like her, but I'm sure that's just because she was my mothers twin. When I was just a little child she would just hold into me and cry, sometimes for up to an hour. But like I said earlier, when my eldest aunt died, and my mother had to become queen she... She was really starting to get worse. She was bed ridden a lot. I just though it was because she was getting old and was tired... I was wrong." The queen's eyes became glazed over with tears and took a shaky breath.

"Not long after Shroobella was born my mother called me into her room before I went to bed. She wanted me to sleep beside her that night, I thought it was unusual but I did. She hugged me close and told me, and I to this day I remember her words. 'Elra, can you promise me, no matter what happens in the future, as bad as it may be, you'll keep your sister safe for me?'"

The queens voice cracked, "I didn't know what that meant, but I agreed. It wasn't until the next morning until I found out what she meant..." she took another long pause, and took a deep breath. "I woke up... She never did..."

Shroobrian's eyes widened and placed a hand on Elra's arms as she let out a sob, but she wasn't done.

"And do you want to know the worst part...!? When they were clearing some things out of my mothers room, they found an empty bottle under her bed, it was a bottle of poison, and so it's likely that... " She let out another sob. "... I don't want to think about it..."

Shroobrian's hand travelled from the queens arm up to her shoulder and then her back, and stroked her back gently. He didn't know what to say. The angered, impatient queen that he was speaking with earlier, was now a weak, grieving mess.

She whimpered. "Mama... Mama, I miss you so much..." she took another deep breath, taking control of her emotions. "Shroobsworth was the one who helped me when I ruled. He taught me everything I know, and even more. I'm grateful for him..."

Shroobrian just continued to stroke Elra's back, and the queen turned her head to him. "Shoobrian, thank you. For everything." She placed her hand across the top of Shroobella's torso again. "If it wansn't for you... I would've been left alone."

Shroobrian smiled at her, "Just doing my job, my leigh." A few moments of silence passed before the queen spoke to him again, "Do you want to go to sleep? There's a guest room upstairs."

Shroobrian stretched his legs out before getting to his feet, "That's very nice of you, but aren't you going to get some sleep?"

"I'll be fine here. Really, I will."

He wasn't quite convinced, but went along with it, "Okay, but, Is there anything else you want to say to me?"

The queen looked at him for a moment like she wanted to say something, but stopped herself, "No, I'm fine now... You should go to bed."

Shroobrian gave her a nod and left the ward, and made his way to the guest room, stopping to ask a few guards for directions along the way. He knew it would be fruitless to try to argue with the queen...

As she watched him walk away, his footsteps echoing out of earshot. Elra took a deep breath. There was silence, the only thing making a noise was the machines at her sisters bedside. She looked down at the floor... "I swear... I still hear her sometimes..."

~

Elra grumbled as finally shifted awake. She was laying on the tiled floor, head in a puddle of her own drool. She sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes with one hand while holding herself up with the other.

"Slept well, my leigh?"

"Huh?" She quickly spun around on her backside to face where the voice had come from, her look of surprise soon melted away as she remembered where she was.

She chuckled, "Please remind me to never sleep on the miserable floor ever again."

The little orange Shroob smiled as he wrote some things down on his clipboard, "I'll try."

As the queen continued to rub the sleepiness from her eyes as she then turned to look at her sister. And a toothy smile spread across her face. Shroobella's shell had been sealed back up, a jagged line where the incision was made being the only thing that remained, and the ugly tube that was pushed down her throat was replaced with a plastic mask.

The queen gently stroked the side of her sisters face, trying to see if she would react. "Did she awaken at all while I was asleep?"

Shroobrian shook his head. "Sadly no... And to be honest-"

The queens smile suddenly faded upon seeing the doctors face.

"That's what I'm a bit concerned about."

"But, she looks so much better! Wha-"

Shroobrian cut her off, "She may look better on the outside, but... If she doesn't wake up within the next few days, we may be... Uhh... Well..."

The queens big, red eyes were fixated on him. Shroobrian gulped and looked down at the floor before continuing with his next sentence, "We may be looking at brain damage caused by the fever!" he said it quick, unable to look his queen in the eyes.  
  
There was silence for a second. "Brain damage?" The queen repeated back to him, hoping that she'd heard him wrong.

Shroobrian made himself as small as possible without looking up at her, Y-yes, my leigh, that is correct... Permanent muscle weakness, seizures... Intellectual disabilities. We w-won't know until she's awake. If she wakes up and is acting like herself, that'll be a good sign. But if not..." he stopped speaking for a second seeing Elra's fists clenched shut. "You, you had better find her the best therapist, so she can get well..."

Shroobrian was expecting her to start screaming, but instead let out a sigh and slumped down against the side of the bed, burying her head in her claws. No more emotions came, no crying, no yelling, tust silence. Shroobella didn't move a muscle.

After a few moments, Elra turned back towards her sister, "Come on, Bellbell, fight this. You scared me once already. You're suppose to scare everyone but me!" she forced a smile as she waited for a response. But it never came. Elra once again reached up and placed a hand over her freshly sealed shell, "Okay... I don't care what you're like when you wake up, we can get through whatever happens. Just come back. I miss you."

The poor queen looked terrible. She clearly hadn't slept much, her hair and clothes were a mess, when was it the last time she ate? Even she couldn't go on for much longer before the stress made her sick too. Shroobrian knew that. He wanted to get queen out of here for a while but knew he wouldn't be able to pull off Shroobsworth's dragging technique, so he instead tried a distraction,"Why do you put your hand on her chest?"

"So I can feel her life." she responded, "My mother did the same thing for me, it's like reinforcing the shell, making extra sure your heart is safe."

Shroobrian looked down at the queens large hand covering her sister, then up at the queens face, and she was struggling to keep her eyes open. He then placed his clipboard down on a small table, and reached up and placed one of his tiny clawed hands onto the center of her chest. She was a little bit taken aback, but didn't do anything to stop it. He could feel the vague feeling of a steady heartbeat, which had now quickened a little bit, "My leigh, you need a break."

She gasped at the gesture. "Shroobrian- I... No I can't!"

"Do you want me to bring Shroobsworth up here?"

The queen raised her hand to speak, but let it drop back down again when she realized she had been beaten.

"Shower, eat, and stretch a bit." Shroobrian crossed his arms, "It won't do you any good if you end up having a nervous breakdown."

The queen stammered and gestured with her arms, searching for something to say but, soon gave up. She stood back on her feet and sighed, "Fine, I'll be back in an hour. No later. Send for me if anything changes."

Shroobrian nodded as he watched her lumber away around the curtain and through one of the entrances, and heard her footsteps echo out into the hallway and then fade out of hearing distance. Shroobrian then focused his attention into Shroobella. Her breath fogged up the plastic mask, and there were a lot less pustules. Some of them had turned into black scabs.

Another day went by. Elra had once again planted herself at her sisters bedside. And nothing Shroobrian said could make her budge. Even Shroobsworth gave up after a while, he needed to go back down to the nursery where all the young Shroobs and Shrooblets were kept.

Her appearance just kept becoming more and more haggard as hours passed. She spent all the while singing to Shroobella, other times reading to her, or just sit there with her hand resting on her chest, watching her stomach rise and fall with every breath.

~

Another night passed. Shroobrian once again found the queen asleep by her sisters bed, the drool pool the size of her head constant and growing, and growl-like snoring so loud you'd think there was a rabid chain-chomp in the room. How she didn't wake herself up? It was a question beyond even Shroobrian's knowlege.

When she finally awoke she looked up towards Shroobrian, "How's Shroobella?" Her voice was still husky with sleep.

"About the same." Upon hearing his reply she just let her head drop back into the floor, and closed her eyes again.

Shroobrian sighed and shook his head. And as he once again finished with his daily notes, his pen slipped between his fingers and it rolled underneath the princesses' bed. He got down on his knees and reached underneath a grabbed it, but as he pulled his head back up, he felt something spike the back of his head causing him to yelp and fall onto his side. His clipboard landed with a loud clack against the tiled floor that echoed throughout the room.

As Shroobrian sat up he realised that Shroobella's arms was hanging halfway of the bed, the tips of her claws must have been what spiked him. As he picked up his clipboard, a murmur came from the younger sisters throat. He quickly made his way back over to her side.

"Shroobella? Princess Shroobella can you hear me?" she opened her dim red eyes, squinting at the harsh medical light.

"Wha-what's going on? Who are you?"

Shoobrian put on a calm voice, "My name is Doctor Shroobrian, you've been asleep for a while now.

"Where's my sister?"

Shroobrian pointed to the opposite side of the bed at Elra, who was snoring away, "Tell me, does she sleep like that all the time or...?"

She ignored the joke, and called out for her sister, "E-Elra!"

Shroobrian made his way quickly to the sleeping queen and shook her shoulder. She stirred in her sleep and her eyes opened half way. Before she could even ask, her sisters voice opened her eyes completely. The elder sister raced over to her sisters side leaning over her.

Shroobella smiled sheepishly, "Hi Elra..."

Shroobrian watched the queens heart melt upon hearing her sister say her name. She bent all the way down and hugged her sister close to her chest, kissing the top of her head, "You had me so worried, Shroobella. What happened when I left?"

The younger sisters face scrunched up recalling the memory, "I just... My throat just, blocked up. I couldn't breath. I yelled for help and my guards came in... Then I just blacked out. I thought I was going to die, and..."

Shroobrian chimed in, "You're through the worst of it now, your sister stayed with you the entire time."

Shroobella pulled off the oxygen mask and tried to sit up but sickness kept her grounded, she gritted her teeth.

"Careful!" Shroobrian and Elra said in unison.

"You need to take it easy for a while." The orange Shroob ordered, "Don't push yourself while in this state, you'll end up getting hurt."

The princess sighed and crossed her arms, "Can I be in my own bed at least?"

Shroobrian nodded, "Indeed."

Afternoon slowly faded into evening. Elra had some soup be made for her sister, and fed it to her. The shock of waking up had long since faded and she was now to weak to move much. Shroobella often hid her face out of sheer embarrassment at how weak she was at the moment. She hated being seen as weak by anyone. Especially by her subjects. 

Shroobrian said that Shroobella could sleep in her own bed as long as she didn't pull her IV's out. All that night the gentle queen made a fuss of her sister, giving her extra blankets and pillows, until she dozed off. The only reminded of her illness being the small tubes in her arm. Elra was a little disappointed that she fell asleep so soon.

"You'd think she'd be up all night after sleeping for so long." she said quietly to herself.

"Well she's still sick, Elra." said a voice from behind her. She spun around to see Shroobsworth standing in the doorway.

"Sleep is the best thing for her, AND you aswell. You've been up for the passed couple nights, and the times you did sleep, you were on the floor. So why don't you go to bed too?"

Elra was about to speak but the old Shroob beat her to it, "Now."

She sighed in defeat, "Yes Shroobsworth."

As the queen lumbered down the hall about to turn a corner, Shroobrian came out from around the other side almost causing them to bump into each other.

"Oh, pardon me, my leigh I didn't notice you." He said trying to make his away around her, but before he did she stopped him for a second. 

"Shroobrian."

He faced her, "Um, yes, my leigh?"

The queen cleared the throat, "I'd like to give you something as a thank you... I've been meaning to give it to you for a while now. It's not much but I want you to have it."

"Oh, okay wh-" Before the little doctor could ask what it was he was suddenly scooped up into the arms of his queen. "Whoa! Your majesty, my leigh? Why ar-?"

"I know I've said this before." The queen started, "But thank you so much, for everything. For healing my sister, listening to me, staying beside both of us, I just want you to know that no matter what, you'll always have my deepest gratitude. And I apologise for my ill temper."

Shroobrian put his little arms around her neck and hugged her back, "You're welcome, my leigh."

A few moments passed before she placed him down. "Please, call me Elra."


End file.
